Canada beat US 3-2 in Olympic women´s hockey

SOCHI, Russia: The Canadian women´s hockey team beat the United States 3-2 on Wednesday in a tense preview of the expected gold medal match, taking the lead on Hayley Wickenheiser´s controversial third-period goal.

Meghan Agosta scored in the second period to tie the game 1-1, and then Canada added the go-ahead goal 93 seconds later on a shot that U.S.
goalie Jesse Vetter seemed to have stopped, drawing a whistle from referee Anna Eskola of Finland. But the puck slid through Vetter´s pads and over the goal line.

The Americans allowed Meghan Agosta to break into the zone by herself and beat Vetter with just over five minutes remaining — the second goal of the game for the MVP of the 2010 Olympics — giving Canada a 3-1 lead.

The U.S. pulled the goalie and cut the deficit to one on Anne Schleper´s goal with 65 seconds left, but even with a power play that gave them a 6-on-4 advantage they couldn´t tie it.

It was the Canadians´ third consecutive Olympic victory over the U.S., including the gold medal games in Vancouver and Salt Lake. But it was their first victory over the Americans for coach Kevin Dineen, who took over the team in December after a career in which he played for Hartford and Columbus and saw rivalries like the Red Sox and Yankees and Michigan-Ohio State up close.

Finland´s Jenni Hiirikoski scored her second goal of the game with 2:22 left in overtime to help the 2010 bronze medalists escape with a 4-3 victory over Switzerland earlier Wednesday.

The Finns earned the No. 3 seed in the Olympic playoffs, and they will play the loser of the round-robin finale between Russia and Sweden, with the other facing Switzerland.

Hilary Knight also scored and Vetter stopped 28 shots for the United States, which also had secured a spot in the semis already. Charline Labonte made 25 saves for Canada, which had already earned a bye into the semifinals and now will take the No. 1 seed into the playoffs.

If they both win, they would meet again in the final.

It´s the fifth time the teams have met in the Olympics, but the first since women´s hockey was added to the Winter Games in 1998 that they have played in the preliminary round.

The Americans beat Canada twice that year — including the gold medal game — but it´s been Canada ever since, at least in the Olympics. (AP)